When Mortals and Gods Happen
by Princess Of Flames
Summary: *Adopted from Laureleaf3* The Gods of 1938 disappear during a Council meeting and learn about the future events. Paul's English class learn about the truth about the hot and mysterious Percy Jackson. What is going on?
1. Chapter 1

Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Nico and Coach Hedge were mourning over their loss. Though Coach would never admit it, he loves the children and couldn't bear having them hurt but falling Tartarus was just plain pushing it. It was torture.

Hazel played with her food, pushing it back and forth feeling miserable. Jason had sparks popping around him while Leo would burst into flames every few minutes. As for Nico, well, to say he looked horrifying was an understatement as all the shadows were bending towards him. Piper silent wept whereas Frank just sat their still finding it hard to believe of what had happened.

They were so lost in their emotions that they filled to notice a rainbow light had enveloped them and they gone.

* * *

The Olympian council of the year 1938 along with Hades and were having a meeting. Technically, they were arguing more than having a meeting. Constant bickering, shouting, insulting and cursing. Yup, very godly.

The Olympians were wrapped in a shimmering light and off to the fates know where.

* * *

The light died and every found themselves on an island. Ogygia. Some were dumbstruck, others were awed while some had no idea what was going on at all. Then an onyx stone the size of a normal fist fell upon Zeus's head. The King looked furious. "Who dares to interrupt the winter solstice and bring us here?" Zeus demanded.

"Peace brother, you should calm down." Poseidon said. A figure of a young woman came running towards them and bowed. "My lords and ladies! What an honor to have you all here" the girl, Calypso smiled.

Hades took the stone from Zeus and muttered something in ancient Greek as a smokey image of the entire Olympian council along with Hades, Hestia, Persephone and all the minor gods except Hercules was there.

"Greetings to our past selves of 1938, demigods and mortals. We are the Council of 2015. We have brought you all here to Calypso's island to learn about their two great consecutive wars against Kronos and Gaea. There are mortals among you and you must tell them the truth about us due to the damage caused by Kronos and Gaea the mist is dissipitating. We will be sending you books in perspectives of different heroes so many lives can be saved and damages can be prevented." the figure of Zeus said.

"Secondly, none shall be harmed. No fighting, maiming, physically or emotionally abusing at all and of course mind your language" Hera said

"We will send some guests so behave yourself! The fate of the future rests in your hands, we hope you will bring a change. Farewell" Hades said and then the image disappeared and the gem turned to a book.

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians; The Last Olympian" Hades read the title aloud and raised his eyebrow.

"Well, introductions are in order. Introduce yourselves!" Zeus ordered.

"What the hell are you people talking about? Where are we? Who the hell are you lunatics?" A boy shouted. Zeus looked furious and swallowed hard.

"Watch your tongue mortal or I'll vaporize you!" Zeus thundered "I am Zeus! King of the gods and if you don't show me respect I'll fry you like the puny little mortal you are" pointing his masterbolt at the boy who looked ready to pass out.

"Th-the gods? you mean from G-Greak M-Mythology?" a small girl squeaked.

"Do we look like myths?" Athena questioned but the girl quickly shook her head almost breaking her neck

"Now, introductions" Hera said majestically as she summoned chairs and thrones, and sat down.

"Everyone exchange a look till Piper got the courage and stood forward "Piper McLean, Daughter of Aphrodite, charmspeaker and one of the seven of the Second Great Prophecy" Aphrodite smiled while the other gods looked confused

"What other prophecy child?" Athena asked

"You'll find out seen, Lady Athena" Piper replied politely. The mortals looked shocked to see a demigod.

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Defeater of Krios and one of the Seven" Jason said while Hera looked furious "What is a Roman doing with the Greeks?"

"Future is messed up" Jason replied but restrained a faint smirk on his lips _oh the irony._

"Hazel Lavesque, daughter of Pluto and one of the seven" Hazel said having a confused looking Hades at why his daughter from the 1940's is in the future?

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars and one of the Seven" Frank stated and Clarisse raised an eyebrow at the sight of her half Roman brother who looks like a Panda but shook her head.

"Leo is the name, Leo Valdez! The great Supreme Commander of the Argo II and fire user son of Hephaestus" Leo grinned and Hephaestus gave a half smile.

"Nico di Angelo, Ghost King and son of Hades." Nico said simply.

"Clarisse la Rue, daughter of Ares, Drakon slayer"

"Reyna daughter of Bellona and Praetor of The Twelfth Legion" Reyna said respectfully.

"Octavian, augur of The Twelfth Legion and... Future Praetor" Octavian stated though it was obviousthe wanted to start stabbing every Greek but the presence of the Gods refrained him from doing so. Reyna rolled her eyes but didn't say a word.

Paul introduced himself and the rest of his class. So it was time to start reading as Hades gave the book to Athena who wished to read.

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians; The Last Olympian;

**"Go cruising with explosives"**

* * *

**Hey guys, yeah sorry for the late post. I had this written a few weeks ago and then things happened and I forgot to post it. I bet you guys hate me for this.**

**This story was adopted from Laurelleaf When Gods and Mortals happen.**

**She has restarted the story so I was confused whether I should post it or not but someone told me I should so I did.**

**Review please.**

**Sorry if the start wasn't good but do t worry it'll be better in the next chapter**


	2. Chapter 2

"**I go Cruising With Explosives**," Athena read out loud and raised an eyebrow. "That's depressing"

"Or dramatic" Josh mumbled

**The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.**

"Huh?" Marcus asked. "Dramatic much"

"Knowing Prissy, he is always like that" Clarisse replied, not noticing the depressing looks from the 5 demigods of the quest and Nico.

**Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.**

"That was really irresponsible of you Mr. B," a girl named Melissa reprimanded.

A smile played on Athena's lips

**Now, I know you're thinking, **_**Wow, that was really irresponsible of him,**_

"You mortals are so predictable," Hera said conversationally.

_**blah, blah, blah, **_**but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done.**

"Not by a long shot," Nico said.

"What is the most dangerous thing has he ever done?" Claira, stereotypical popular cheerleader supreme who had been trying to get Percy since start of term.

"It would either be a) holding the sky, b) hand to hand combat with Atlas, c) hand to hand combat with Kronos, d) hand to hand combat with Gaea, e) going through Tartarus, f) the battle of Manhattan, g) the Giant War as a whole, or h) - actually, he has done a ton of dangerous things, I don't want to categorize them too much."

The class was astounded.

"Yeah right" the thick headed jock, Jake snorted and ended up being glared at by horrifying demigods.

**Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas.**

"Someone's got a crush," Jared teased.

Noah,one of Percy's friends cam school glared at him, said, "And this is coming from a boy who has a new girlfriend every week, whereas Percy gets a crush on someone it's a big deal. Now shut the hell up and now back to listening"

**"Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.**

**We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice—glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.**

**My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.**

"he's my son?" Poseidon asked and the demigods nodded in response

Athena groaned "Wonderful, that explains the weird and dramatic explanations"

"How many half siblings does he have, you know with Poseidon having so many demigod children?" Marisa asked.

"There's the Cyclopes, but they don't really count because they're not human, but no demigod half-siblings as far as I'm aware, as the Big Three - Zeus Poseidon and Hades - vowed to have no more demigod children after World War II, but it didn't really work out."

**"So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."**

**"Oh . . . right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.**

"Cool! Go!" Matt shouted out "You shouldn't even really need to consider!"

Clarisse scowled. "Shut up mortal, let lady Athena read!" giving the boy a glare so horrifying he almost wet himself.

**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.**

"Even more reason to go!" Matt said but screamed like a sissy as Clarisse's daggerOlay between his feet "Next tiyour won't be so merciful"

Ares shook his head in approval

**Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission.**

"What mission?" Poseidon squeaked. He was ignored and he paled further.

The mortals wondered what happened

**Even worse, next week was my birthday.**

"How is that a bad thing?" Samantha asked. She couldn't believe Percy was a hero. _Percy! Okay she could believe that the sexy Percy Jackson was a hero and he was going to be hers_

"Perhaps if you let me _read the book_ you would find out," Athena said, exasperated.

**There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.**

"Bad things?" Benjamin asked.

"Yup, huge war, fight, people dying. Wonderful moments" Nico replied sarcastically

The gods exchanged a horrifying look. Calypso looked worried

**"Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's **_**always **_**bad for you, right?"**

**She had a point.**

**"I really want to go," I promised. "It's just—"**

**"The war."**

**I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist—the magic veil that distorts human vision. She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.**

"AWESOME!" Jake said, then seemed to remember he was complementing a friend of his arch nemesis.

**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad . . ." Her voice faltered.**

**"Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.**

**Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be **_**nice **_**to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy in the fall."**

"I've always wanted to go there," Claira said dreamily. Samantha nodded along with her.

**"The school where your mom went?"**

**"It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"**

**I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.**

"Okay, that's really hard to picture," Samantha allowed.

**She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."**

**"Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"**

**"Yes . . . but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be **_**so **_**much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk—" She stopped abruptly.**

**"Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean . . . so serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"**

**She pursed her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."**

**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.**

Some boys wolf whistled.

Artemis glared at them and turned Roy into a jackalope

They paled and instantly shut up.

Artemis smirked in approval.

**We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.**

"Is it really that bad?" Dylan asked. Everyone thought it would be pretty cool to be a demigod. EVen the Olympians were curious.

"You mean have monsters chasing you everyday, trying to kill you and challanging you? Thinking that will you ever live to see your 18th birthday? Apart from that being a demigod is great" Clarisse replied.**  
**

The gods exchanged a shameful look.

**"Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."**

**She nodded. "And so . . . hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"**

**"Oh . . ." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows—slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um . . ."**

Piper and Hazel giggled "That is so Percy. He is really slow"

"Can we have some action already?" an exasperated Ares yelled startling the mortals, Romans and had Frank hide his face at his dad's childish act

**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than . . . well, than some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.**

"I'll tell Rachel you said that Percy" Jason said shaking his head

**I'm not sure what I would have done next—but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a **_**WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!**_

"Noooo! Not the car!" Leo cried and got a slap from Piper and Reyna.

_**Hey, boss, **_**a voice said in my head. **_**Nice car!**_

"He can speak to horses?!" Dylan asked excitedly. He was like a son of Hermes.

"Yeah, and anything like them. Along with fish, which can be very useful." Poseidon said and everyone stared at him "What? All of my children have that ability

**Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood; but I didn't think my stepdad would be real stoked.**

"I wasn't," Paul said.

**"Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you—"**

**Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.**

**"'Sup, Percy."**

**Charles Beckendorf, senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge, with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camp's best armor smiths. He made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went **_**flush.**_

"Awesome!" Dylan shouted, standing and punching his fist in the air.

Only a few mortals, Calypso and the Olympians noticed the demigods sad face, but they decided not to comment.

Clarisse had her fist clench remembering her best friend _Silena_

**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.**

**"Time?" I asked.**

**He nodded grimly.**

"Time for what?" Apollo and Melissa asked.

Melissa blushed and Apollo winked earning a slap from Artemis

"You ask more questions then the Athena cabin" Poper said

**A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning for it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.**

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."**

**"Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me . . . uh, I mean he mentioned you."**

"Nice save," Liam said, nodding his head. Liam was a member of the swim team but, he wasn't friends with Percy.

**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."**

**"Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.**

**I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom—"**

"Real mama's boy aren't you, Jackson?" Jake sneered but before anyone could react a light filled the room and several figures appeared...

* * *

**Hey guys, my first reading the books. I have been typing for sometime but I wanted to update so here you are. The continuation will be in the next chapter.**

**Please review! I won't update if I don't get at least 10 reviews.**

**Sorry for the harshness.**

**Any guesses on whose coming?**


	3. Chapter 3

The light faded and there stood 4 women. One had light brown hair and pretty brownish green eyes who held a 3 year old sleeping bot in her arms. Another woman with dark hair and olive skin was holding two kids in her arms as well as the Hespanic dark skinned woman. The last blond had no children but instead she looked as though she was expecting a child.

"Who are you?" Zeus asked.

The bruenette and dark haired women paled and stared at Poseidon and Hades respectively.

The blond haired woman strutted forth and smiled "You do not recognise me my lord? I am Suzan Grace mother of Thalia and our son to be"

Hera scowled "You cheat on me for... For this filthy mortal?!"

Zeus paled "B-but my dearI do not know this woman! I have done nothing wrong yet!"

Hera's eyes narrowed "_yet? You mean you plan on cheating on me in the future?!"_

_"What? No I would not, I wouldn't" he rambled but one look from Hera shut him up._

_The mortals looked creeped out at this whilst the demigods seemed asthough this was normal for them._

_"Esperanza Valdez, this is my little mijo, Leo" the dark skinned Hespanic woman said and Leo looked like he was going to cry and wanted to run to his mom and hug her._

_Thebrunette and the dark haired woman exchanged a look as though they were having a silent conversation. The dark haired woman gave a sigh and came forward, her young children clung to their mother, staring at everyone with pure innocence. " I am Maria do Angelo, these are my children; Nico and Bianca di Angelo" _

_Nico stiffened and stared at his mother, unwilling to believe his eyes. The only soul he was forbidden to see,whose memories he wanted to remember but couldn't but now seeing her alive and breathing was like a dream. Without even realising it he was sprinting to his mom and had embraced a startled Maria and began to sob. _

_It took Maria a few seconds to realise that this little boy embraced in her arms is the teenage boy who was sobbing into her chest. A mother is a mother and her baby is a baby, whether he is a toddler on an adult._

_The others were surprised to see the son of Hades cry but were happy to know that he got to meet his mum._

_The mortalsthough were confused during this exchange._

_Sally gave a small sigh "I am Sally Jackson, mother of Perseus Jackson" she rubbed her cheekon the sleeping child's hair._

_Piper, Hazel and the mortal girls cooed at the sleeping baby Percy._

_"Can someone please tell mewhat's going on here?" An impatient Susan Grace said. Athena explained what happened, why they are their and what has happened till they have read _

_Sally swallowed and glanced at her baby._

**"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."**

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.**

"Really? I would _totally_ loan my car." Leo said.

**"Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react.**

The immature guys along with Apollo and Hermes whole whistled who ended up earning a smack from the girls and nearly wet themselves when Ryan and Darren turned into rabbits.

"They look better like this, don't they, boys?" Artemis asked.

Aphrodite was smiling to herself in satisfaction as she had done a good job playing with his love life

**"Now, get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."**

**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to find out.**

**"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."**

**"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."**

"Whose Annabeth?" Samantha asked.

"She's Percy's..." Leo was shut up by Piper when she slammed her hand on his mouth and said "Best friend"

The guysraised an eyebrow at this but the females as in goddesses, half bloods and mortal girls understood what Leo was about to say.

**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.**

**It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda glowed on the horizon-a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white.**

Clarisse winced when she realized what was going to happen in this chapter.

**From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead-a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.**

**Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for New York.**

**"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind. I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Krono's invasion before it ever started.**

**"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."**

**Gotcha,boss, he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat. Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until he finally escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.**

Everyone laughed at the image.

"Please tell me he doesn't go on so many dangerous quests" Sally asked. The demigods including Reyna exchanged a look which was an answer enough as she held her baby tighter to her chest. Maria placed a hand on Sally's shoulder and squeezed it, giving her a smile which Sally returned

**"Don't wait for us," I told him.**

**But, boss-**

**"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out ourselves."**

The demigods winced. "He should not have said that" Nico mumbled.

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship- dracaenae snake-woman, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as telkhines-but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.**

**Good luck,boss, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!**

**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size-three feet of deadly celestial bronze glowing in the dusk. Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light-the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of 'd started going out last summer,**

"Aww." Aphrodite, Samantha and Chelsea cooed.

Aphroite was happy they got together.

**after years of the rest of us saying "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.**

"We were saying the same thing for you Percy and Annabeth" Clarisse said but shook her head. Her friendship with some Aphrodite girls had softened her which she hated.

Sally smiled.

**"We'd make it back to camp," I promised.**

Leo looked down.

That promise didn't happen.

Esperanzaand Hephaestus exchanged a look when they saw Leo's expression and knew something was wrong.

**For a second I saw sorry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.**

**"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million of pieces."**

**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.**

**"I don't care what your noses says!" snarled a half-human, halfdog voice-a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!"**

**"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"**

**"Bah, your brain isn't on board!"**

"idiot." Athena said rolling her eyes.

Everyone agreed.

Poseidon grudgingly nodded.

**They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines started to fade.**

**Finally, we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room."**

**It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.**

**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on .**

Everyone cracked up.

" Only you Percy." Jason said laughing.

"He has a weirdimagination" Reyna remarked.

"Greeks are crazy anddon't deserve to live" Octavian mumbled but was ignored.

"Is there even such a website?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah! Is there? Thatwould be cool! Hermes and I can chat with each other there and we can have cool names like...OW Arty that hurts!" Apollo cried

**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something wrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.**

**"One down," Beckendorf said. " About five thousand to go."**

"That's resurrging." Leo said.

**He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid-Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world.**

**The he threw me another essential tool of the demigod heros-duct tape.**

Everyone laughed

"You havegot to be kidding me right?" Matt asked

Duct tape can fix a lot of things." Hephaestus defined.

Leo nodded in agreement.

Okay than..." Matt trailed off.

'"You better not use that on the Argo II." Hazel said seriously.

**"Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turnbines."**

**We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.**

**The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell er were at 40.l9° North, 7I.90° West, making eighteen knots, which meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This would be our only chance to stop it.**

**I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps-so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.**

"Uh-oh." Everyone said.

**I locked eyes with Beckendorf. "How much longer?"**

**"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."**

**Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds.**

"Uh-oh." Apollo confirmed.

**"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."**

**"Percy-"**

**"Wish me luck."**

**He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise.**

**"Good luck," he said.**

**I charged out the door.**

"And here we go " Poseidon said.

He hated when this happened to his children. It worried him to Hades.

Sally looked like she was going to have a heart attack and held her baby as though her hug would make all the monsters go away. Maria gave a sad smile

**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing-past another telkhine, who was so started he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I left him alive-partly because his lunch box was cool,**

Everyone snorted.

"Whats with the weird descriptions?" Melissa asked.

That's Percy for you, he is always like that" Jason shrugged but frowned at the thought of their missing companions

**partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room**

**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.) Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourist on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. Now that I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.**

"Really? I never would have thought it." Leo said trying to release the tension among the demigods.

The mortals paled and gulped. The mothers held their children.

**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab. I'm talking giant like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the water. It's shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my body.**

"That's one big crab" Hermes said.

Everyone nodded.

**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at me,and I could see intelligence in them-and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.**

"Mr. Crabby? "Noah asked laughing.

**"FFFFfffffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off it was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.**

"Eww." Aphrodite and Samantha squealed. The rest scrunched their noses.

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.**

**"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so-"**

"I don't think that will work." Demeter said.

**The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack if T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.**

**"There!" a voice said from a balcony about me.**

**"Intruder!"**

**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow.**

"Just great." Poseidon said.

**The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sl****iced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.**

**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab-something about Hercules crushing it under his big food? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.**

**Then a weird thought occurred to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paule Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things, he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies. The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.**

"At least you figured it out." Athena said "Though I'm surprised you did figure it out"

Poseidon said You're talking to a book" next thing he knew a flock of owls were chasing him.

**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high,dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming,**

**"AHHHHHHH!"**

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven-ton armored vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me, but before it realized what I was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out the backside.**

There was silence then...

"Whoa! That was totally ninja!" Leo yelled. Dylan jumped and shouted "Yeah! That's awesome!" And got a smack on the head from Rose.

Everyone chuckled.

**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap.**

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab,and I had no time to retrieve it.**

"Woo!" Poseidon said sarcastically.

**In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of dracaenae slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin,yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.**

**"What is thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronoss!"**

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE ****display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first dracaena. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.**

"Woo!" Everyone cheered.

"Not bad punk. "Clarisse said.

Ares growled "Don't run! Fight!" But was shut up when he was doused in water.

**"Get him!" she screamed.**

**Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.**

**I didn't care-as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.**

**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down.**

**He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve-about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brain-washed-trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.**

"You know that's about the same age as I was." Nico said realizing the fact.

Everyone looked down.

Maria hugged her babies and teenage son. Themortals frowned. This wasn't right. They were kids of their age and they were fighting in wars. That wasn't right.

**No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.**

**Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.**

"You always can't help it." Hazel said.

**"If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next door.**

**I kept climbing.**

**Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.**

**I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.**

**All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad-our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter mile away.**

All was silent.

**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late, Percy."**

**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.**

Hermes frowned.

The demigods grimaced. "Greeks can never be host titans. Filthy Greeks" Octavian snarled but was knocked out cold by Clarisse.

**We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient,and powerful-the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."**

"What a cliché" Dylan said trying to lighten the mood which wasn't even a little effective.

**"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.**

**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so face unless they'd known I was coming.**

"A spy?" Athena asked thinking it though.

The demigods nodded and looked down.

_Poor Silena._

**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed . . . or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him. A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?**

**According to that big prophecy, I was suppose to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before. As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. I had to remember that.**

"Please don't do something stupid." Poseidon said.

Sally looked frantic and both mother and father of the sea green eyed boy looked like they were hyperventilating.

**"Come forward," he said. "If you dare."**

"That was really cheesy." Leo said.

**The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.**

**Krono's weapon appeared in his hands-a six-foot-long scythe, a half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at it made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged. Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because Kronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.**

Poseidon started hyperventilating and the waves of the sea quickened.

"That unfair." Piper said.

"He's Kronos. He doesnt care." Frank said angrily.

**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me-the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the year, but now nothing seemed to happen.**

**I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered Dracaenae hissed with laughter.**

**Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day would be good. Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.**

Silence.

"You just...you just...brock the spell. "Ares said, shocked.

Everyone was looking at the sleeping child in Sally's arms in shock.

Jake shook his head, a sneer plastered on his face, unwilling to believe it.

**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face- Luke's face-a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.**

**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a gash in the deck right between my feet.**

"That was close." Apollo said.

**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.**

"Ouch."

**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body. Now I understood what he meant. I wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.**

Poseidon took an intake of breath. Sally kissed Percy's head and grinned at Maria.

**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.**

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."**

**My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time.**

Poseidon was turning slightly blue from not breathing.

**"Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head."**

**"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."**

**"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.**

Sally held her baby tight and thought that their is more in the book. He'll be okay.

**"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face-Luke's face-seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"**

"No." Hephaestus said.

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!" A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.**

"Punk." Ares growled.

Clarisse winced remembering her boyfriend's condition

**"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."**

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, ****dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.**

Hephaestus took a breath.

Esperanza looked at herson's pale face and grabbed his hands

**"No!" I yelled.**

**Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed?**

**Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.**

**"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"**

"Oh. Good plan." Athena said figuring out what happened.

**"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"**

**"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."**

**"How do you know that?"**

**"Er . . ." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives." Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed!**

"It was really smart." Athena said then she noticed all the sad faces.

_What happened?_

**But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.**

**Kronos hesitated.**

**Buy the story, I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.**

**"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.**

**One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from**

**Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.**

"Peaches?" Leo said. Dylan said "Snack maybe"

He was ignored.

**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.**

**"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"**

**Ethan turned pale. "Um-"**

**"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ****ENGINE ROOM?"**

**Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.**

"Good idea dude. "Jason said.

**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: How long?**

**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. Zero. There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.**

**Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks." He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm-the Titan lord's symbol.**

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I muttered, "Communication device . . . spy at camp."**

" A spy. That's not good." Athena said. Melissa nodded her head in agreement

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."**

**I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around ****Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.**

**Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go.**

"No." Hephaestus said closing his eyes.

**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.**

**The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly toward the watch on his right wrist. I wanted to scream, NO!**

**Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed,**

**"What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?" Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.**

"No. No. No." Hephaestus chanted his head in his hands.

**I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the shiptoward the water a hundred feet below. I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away-a hundred yards, two hundred yards.**

**Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.**

**Beckendorf, I thought.**

**Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.**

Hephaestus left the place and went for a walk.

"Done. "Athena said

He heard the story of what happened to his half-brother but actually hearing the exact event was too much. Esperanza held her son in her arms.

"We should wait for him. Everyone take a break. Get back here in an hour" Zeus said and everyone dispersed


	4. Chapter 4

After an hour everyone returned to the gathering area. The mortals who only stood to stretch their legs had not explored the mysterious island in fear of what may lie on the exotic island.

When all had settled Athena asked forvolunteers and got response from an anxious Sally and Poseidon. Athena not bothering about her rival, gave the book to Sally.

Sally read, "**I Meet Some Fishy Relatives**."

"That is strange" she remarked.

"Percy is the King of strange" Leo commented

**Demigod dreams suck.**

**The thing is, they're never just **_**dreams. **_**They've got to be visions, omens, and all that other mystical stuff that makes my brain hurt.**

"You're not the only one," Jason said.

"That bad?" Lucy,one of Percy's friends asked.

**I dreamed I was in a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California. The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud—Atlas, holding up the sky.**

"I wonder what it's like to hold up the sky?" Jared wondered idly.

"You don't want to know, mortal" Artemis said.

**Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames.**

**"Quite an explosion," one said. He wore black armor studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side.**

"Krios?" Melissa asked.

"Yes."

**"It doesn't matter," the other said. This Titan was dressed in gold robes, with golden eyes like Kronos.**

**His entire body glowed. He reminded me of Apollo, God of the Sun, except the Titan's light was harsher, and his expression crueler.**

"Helios?" Melissa asked.

"No" Nico replied.

"Hyperion?" Athena asked but the way she asked was like a statementPrather than a question. The boy's silence was answer enough that led to the draining of colour from the gods.

**"The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed."**

"Yeah right!" Andrew scoffed

"You'd be surprised at how close a call it was," Jason told him. "I have no idea how we won the Giant War."

**The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror.**

**"I will go east to Marshall our forces," the golden Titan said. "Krios, you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys."**

**The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while **_**you**_**have all the fun."**

"Who knew a Titan could have a sense of humor?" Dylan said

"They don't," Clarisse said immediately, "Krios just likes to whine."

"But he's a damn good fighter" Jason mumbled rubbing his arm, unknown to him Suzan rubbed her belly and frowned at her son.

**Under the whirlwind of clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony, "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior. Take my burden so I may fight!"**

"Someone has a big ego," Dylan scoffed.

"But he is a good fighter" Athena stated.

"But not as good as me!" Ares shouted.

"Yawn, this story is getting boring! Where is the love?" Aphrodite said, bored whilruffling her nails

**"Quiet!" the golden Titan roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty."**

"What does he mean, he had his chance?" Melissa and Athena asked. Melissa blushed while Athena raised an eyebrow

"Its a long story, punk. Now shut up and let Sally read!" Clarisse snarled, making the mortals cower

**"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight."**

"He is a creep. Too annoyingly polite" Apollo said.

**The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the dawn of the Sixth Age!"**

"Yeah, right," Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

**The golden Titan erupted into flames and disappeared.**

**"Oh, sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns."**

The class laughed; even if he was whiny, Krios was funny. The gods let a small smiledoe even a chuckle escape their lips while the mothers smiled.

**The scene shifted. Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood next to me, eavesdropping on the Titans. He had dark silky hair, pale skin, and dark clothes—my friend Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades.**

Maria frowned and looked at Nico worriedly, giving him the worried- mom look.

Nico who had never recieved it or had no memory of receiving it shrunk in his mums legs.

**He looked straight at me, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?"**

"What plan?" Maria asked, even Sally looked worried

**His words washed over me as cold as the ocean floor, and my dreams went black.**

**"Percy?" a deep voice said.**

**My head felt like it had been microwaved in aluminum foil.**

"And you know how this feels how?" CLaura asked snootily.

Sally frowned while the demigoddesses gave her a horrifying glare.

**I opened my eyes and saw a large shadowy figure looming over me.**

**"Beckendorf?" I asked hopefully.**

**"No, brother."**

**My eyes refocused. I was looking at a Cyclops—a misshapen face, ratty brown hair, one big brown eye full of concern. "Tyson?"**

**My brother broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain works!"**

"I seriously doubt that" Frank joked.

"Cooookiiieee, mommmyyyy I want a cookie! Blue cookie! Cookie!" an awake 3 year old Percy squealed.

The little child's squeal woke the other toddlers with a desire for cookies.

"Cookie?" yawned a 3 year old Leo.

"Mama? Lunch time?" an innocent Nico asked, rubbing his eyes whilst Bianca stretched a bit.

" Soon, bambino, soon. I'll get you all some cookies, alright?" Maria said with a smile.

"Cookies? If you tell me how to make these, I can prepare them for the children" Calypso said politely.

Sally nodded, "I'll give you my recipe after this chapter"

Calypso smiled.

**I wasn't so sure.**

"He agrees with me!" Frank exclaimed.

"No one denied it, Frank" Hazel pointed out.

**My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong. I could hear Tyson, but it was more like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not the regular sounds.**

**I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water.**

"COOL!" Dylan shouted.

Poseidon beamed with a smiling Sally.

The other Olympians looked at Poseidon in awe. "It's awesome! Uncle P! Let me come and see your realm! Please!" Apollo shouted.

Hermes nodded "Uncle P's realm is amazing"

"You have been there?" Zeus asked

"Messenger, remember?" Hermes replied while adding Lord Zeus hastily.

**Now, being the son of Poseidon and all, I was okay with this. I can breathe underwater just fine, and my clothes don't even get wet unless I want them to.**

"Again, cool."

**But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammerhead shark drifted through the bedroom window, regarded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room.**

The class laughed. Sally giggled and smiled fondly, playing with the 3 year old's hair.

**"Where—"**

**"Daddy's palace," Tyson said. **

**Under different circumstances, I would've been excited. I'd never visited Poseidon's realm, and I'd been dreaming about it for years. But my head hurt. My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion. My arm and leg wounds had healed—just being in the ocean can do that for me, given enough time—but I still felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats.**

"Laistrygonians in cleats," Frank said, amused "That would hurt like Pluto"

'Pluto' glared "It will not kill you to not use my name in a cuss!"

Frank withered under the glare and hid behind Hazel.

**"How long—"**

**"We found you last night," Tyson said, "sinking through the water."**

**"The **_**Princess Andromeda**_**?"**

**"Went ka-boom," Tyson confirmed.**

"Went ka-boom. . ." Dylan repeated "I like Tyson" he grinned.

Hazel nodded "Tyson's a real sweetheart"

**"Beckendorf was on board. Did you find . . ."**

The room darkened at the mention of Beckendorf.

**Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, brother."**

**I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall.**

"Poor Silena," Samantha murmured.

"She was devastated," Clarisse muttered, clenching her fist.

**He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be **_**gone. **_**Maybe he'd made it off the ship like I had. Maybe he'd jumped over the side . . . and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water like I could. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion.**

**I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the**_**Princess Andromeda, **_**and I had abandoned him.**

"Percy!" an exasperated Sally cried "Don't think like that! It was not your fault! Charlie is a hero! He made his own choice!"

A confused toddler Percy stared at his mum with huge eye filled with innocence.

**I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan—a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year.**

"Should I ask what the plan is, nephew?" Poseidon asked anxiously but the look on his face was answer enough.

**A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole sea as bright as noon.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."**

"I like this guy," Dylan said "Heck yeah! Tyson's awesome, don't you think so Hermes?" Apollo exclaimed.

Hermes nodded his head with a grin.

**The palace might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath—well, if you can catch your breath underwater.**

"Can you?" Andrew asked

"Can what?" Melissa asked quizzically

"Catch your breath underwater" he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Melissa shook her head, muttering "Why did I even bother?"

**The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights.**

"That's beautiful," Ashley whisperedasa Hazel and Piper nodded

"When it's not being destroyed" Clarisse scoffed.

**The main courtyard was filled with warriors—mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up, except their skin was blue, which I'd never known before. Some were tending the wounded. Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us, swimming in a hurry. His eyes were bright green, like that stuff they put in glo-sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in **_**The Little Mermaid.**_

"Percy has the weirdest thoughts," Samantha said.

"And the best," Dylan added.

"And without them he won't be Percy" Jason commented, smiling.

Sally and Poseidon smiled at the raven haired toddler who was playing with his little cousins.

**Outside the main courtyard stood large fortifications—towers, walls, and antisiege weapons—but most of these had been smashed to ruins. Others were blazing with a strange green light that I knew well—Greek fire, which can burn even underwater.**

**Beyond this, the sea floor stretched into gloom. I could see battles raging—flashes of energy, explosions, the glint of armies clashing. A regular human would've found it too dark to see. Heck, a regular human would've been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the cold. Even my heat-sensitive eyes couldn't make out exactly what was going on.**

"Your powers are so cool!" Dylan said.

"Oh please," Jake scoffed. "He's probably made it all up."

Chelsea nodded her head as they received horrifying glares from the demigods

**At the edge of the palace complex, a temple with a red coral roof exploded, sending fire and debris streaming in slow motion across the farthest gardens. Out of the darkness above, an enormous form appeared—a squid larger than any skyscraper. It was surrounded by a glittering cloud of dust—at least I thought it was dust, until I realized it was a swarm of mermen trying to attack the monster. The squid descended on the palace and swatted its tentacles, smashing a whole column of warriors. Then a brilliant arc of blue light shot from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings. The light hit the giant squid, and the monster dissolved like food coloring in water.**

"Oh. That's a little less. . . pretty," Ashley finished lamely.

Clarisse snarled "We're in the middle of a war to save the world,"

Piper said incredulously, "and you're worried about how it looks? Mortals!"

Ironic how it was coming from a child of Aphrodite though.

**"Daddy," Tyson said, pointing to where the light had come from.**

_**"He **_**did that?" I suddenly felt more hopeful. My dad had unbelievable powers. He was the god of the sea. He could deal with this attack, right? Maybe he'd let me help.**

The class smiled. Sally exchanged a small smile with Poseidon.

**"Have you been in the fight?" I asked Tyson in awe. "Like bashing heads with your awesome Cyclops strength and stuff?"**

**Tyson pouted, and immediately I knew I'd asked a bad question, "I have been . . . fixing weapons," he mumbled. "Come. Let's go find Daddy."**

"You should be letting him help," Jake said scornfully.

"I was trying to protect him," Poseidon snapped at him. "I prefer to keep my children alive if I can, so keep silent mortal"

**I know this might sound weird to people with, like, regular parents, but I'd only seen my dad four or five times in my life,**

"Only four or five." Clarisse shook her head. "Most demigods are lucky to see their parents once."

The gods looked down in shame.

**and never for more than a few minutes. The Greek gods don't exactly show up for their kids' basketball games. Still, I thought I would recognize Poseidon on sight.**

**I was wrong.**

**The roof of the temple was a big open deck that had been set up as a command center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved.**

"Cool."

"WILL YOU STOP SAYING THAT?" Jake shouted.

"Why? Do you have a problem Jacob?" Hermes asked making the jock almost wet himself and keep his mouth shut.

**Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted around as the forces changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life also collapsed in the picture.**

**Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle, was a strange assortment of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.**

The Olympians and mortals glanced at the king of the sea who happened to be wearing the exact same thing.

**There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked young—though it's hard to tell with non-humans. They could be a thousand years old or three. Standing next to him was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. And there was a dolphin—just a regular dolphin, but it was staring at the map intently.**

"Triton, Poseidon, Amphitrite and Delphin?" Lucy guessed though it sounded as though she was asking herself but Poseidon nodded.

Melissa looked miffed that Lucy figured it out before her.

**"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans."**

**The dolphin spoke in a chattering voice, but I could understand it in my mind: **_**Yes, lord! **_**It sped away.**

**I looked in dismay at Tyson, then back at the old man.**

**It didn't seem possible, but . . . "Dad?" I asked.**

"But, isn't you a god?" Melissa asked.

"No, he's an ostrich." Zeus rolled his eyes. "Of course he's a god!"

"So, can't he look any way he wants to?"

"Perhaps if you let Sally read the book, you would find out."

**The old man looked up. I recognized the twinkle in his eyes, but his face . . . he looked like he'd aged forty years.**

**"Hello, Percy."**

**"What—what happened to you?"**

"No wonder, he managed to tick of every immortal he met," Frank said rolling her eyes. "I first thought it was the amnesia but now it's certain, he loves ticking people off"

**Tyson nudged me. He was shaking his head so hard I was afraid it would fall off, but Poseidon didn't look offended.**

**"It's all right, Tyson," he said. "Percy, excuse my appearance. The war has been hard on me."**

**"But you're immortal," I said quietly. "You can look . . . any way you want."**

"That's what I was saying!"

"Melissa, you're annoying me, will you please be quiet?" Noah asked.

**"I reflect the state of my realm," he said. "And right now that state is quite grim. Percy, I should introduce you—I'm afraid you just missed my lieutenant Delphin, God of the Dolphins. This is my, er, wife, Amphitrite. My dear— "**

"Awwkwwaarrrd," Dylan, Apollo and Hermes drawled.

Sally and the mothers exchanged a looked and giggled, shaking their head.

**The lady in green armor stared at me coldly, then crossed her arms and said, "Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in the battle."**

**She swam away.**

**I felt pretty awkward, but I guess I couldn't blame her. I'd never thought about it much, but my dad had an immortal wife. All his romances with mortals, including with my mom . . . well, Amphitrite probably didn't like that much.**

"I don't blame her either," Lucy said.

**Poseidon cleared his throat. "Yes, well. . . and this is my son Triton. Er, my **_**other **_**son."**

"Even more awkward," Noah said.

**"Your son and heir," the green dude corrected. His double fish tails swished back and forth. He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help at last?"**

**He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush underwater, I probably did.**

"Can you blush underwater?" Chelsea asked.

"I don't know," Leo replied. "Hey Jason! Kiss Piper in the water and we'll see if she can blush!"

A beet root Piper and a frustrated Reyna slappend him on the head.

**"Tell me what to do," I said.**

**Triton smiled like that was a cute suggestion—like I was a slightly amusing dog that had barked for him or something. He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry. **_**I**_** will not fail."**

**He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect? Then he shot off into the water.**

**Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon—a huge three-pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.**

**"I'm sorry about that," he told me.**

**A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium.**

**Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. **_**Ka-boom!**_

**The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.**

"Ha," Matt said.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "Are you calling my powers funny?"

"N-no," Matt stuttered, because, as much as he hated it, he was scared of the Olympians. "I just thought the monster blowing up was funny."

This time, Athena raised an eyebrow. "So you think it's funny that we're at war?"

"No!" Mat hastily denied. "I was- I was just- I mean- I don't know what I mean."

"My dear, I think you should stop talking. Its best for you" Aphrodite giggled.

**"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against Oceanus is going poorly."**

**He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent.**

**"Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?"**

"So, does this mean Percy listens to Annabeth?" Leo commented.

"No duh, Sherlock. You Greeks are idiots" Octavian snarled.

"What did you say, Roman?" Athena asked steely.

Octavian palend and Sally quickly began reading before the Roman turns into owl food.

**Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This is . . . well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side."**

**"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"**

**"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.**

**Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me—sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them."**

"That's not good," Lucy fretted, thinking aabout all that had cost them to win the war. The just learned about one sacrifice and how many more were there to come?

"Oh really? Ithought it was a bed of roses" Nial, one of the jocks, snarled but shut up at Reyna's smack.

**I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms—a hundred flailing, fighting arms.**

**"Briares!" I said.**

"The hundred-handed one?" Poseidon asked eagerly, beaming

"I thought they were extinct" Demeter said.

"Well seems like we all thought wrong about the existence of the hundred-handed ones" Artemis stated while Athena was busy glaring at the Roman scarecrow.

**I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his kind—a Hundred-Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We'd saved him from Kronos's prison last summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since.**

"I'm not even going to ask," Natalie said wearily.

"Aww,I want to know what happens! Tel me what happens! Apollo whinned.

**"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is the only one."**

**I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and snapped its pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the darkness. Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat.**

**"Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?"**

"Maybe, kinda," Dylan said sarcastically. "They only nearly killed each other!"

"Kronos nearly killed Percy Dylan,"Lucy reminded him. "Not vice-versa."

Fine, be the pessimist" Dylan grumbled while Piper mumbled " Is Leo sure he does not have a long lost brother or someyhiy?"

Jason chuckled.

**I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained about Beckendorf. I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless.**

"That's really sad," Astoria said. Tge demigods resisted the urge to comment,

_Except for Octavian who said "No, it's amazing! We should be dancing on their graves!" _Sarcastically, of course.

**Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed."**

**"But we didn't kill him, did we?"**

"You can't kill a Titan, child" Hera said

**As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill.**

"That's depressing," Noah said, grimacing.

**"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time."**

**"There were demigods on that ship," I said, thinking of the kid I'd seen in the stairwell. Somehow I'd allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I'd convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides, they couldn't really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods . . .**

"And that's depressing too," Noah added.

**Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not . . . they chose their path."**

**"They were brainwashed!" I said. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?"**

"You don't talk to gods like that!" Melissa reprimanded. The Greeks along with the 7 laughed.

"Percy has spoken to gods worse then that," Sally frowned, staring at her little boy intently.

**I glared at the mosaic—little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture.**

**Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would've pushed him away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn. He hugged me whether I wanted it or not.**

"Aw," the girls cooed.

**"Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick."**

"A big stick?" Jake asked, eyebrow raised.

"Tyson's preferred weapon is a club," Nico explained. "He calls it a big stick."

Reyna gave a smallsmile, remembering the kind Cyclopes.

**"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat."**

**"The bigger threat?" I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: **_**The gods have**__**answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed.**_

**A shadow passed over my father's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp."**

"Ask him what?" Melissa asked.

"Just the fate of the world andhow he is going to due, nothing big" Clarisse said nonchalantly. The 7 plus Nico winced.

**"Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!"**

**"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere."**

**I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup.**

**My brother chewed his lip. "Daddy . . . Percy can fight with a sword. He is good."**

"Understatement of the millennia," Leo muttered, remembering how scary Percy looks in a fight.

**"I know that," Poseidon said gently.**

**"Dad, I can help," I said. "I know I can. You're not going to hold out here much longer."**

"Have some faith, Prissy," Clarisse said, rolling her eyes.

**A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corner of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon winced as if he'd just been stabbed.**

**"Return to camp," he insisted. "And tell Chiron it is time."**

**"For what?"**

**"You must hear the prophecy. The **_**entire **_**prophecy."**

"WHAT PROPHECY?" Melissa screeched

The gods stared at Apollo who shrugged.

**I didn't need to ask him which prophecy. I'd been hearing about the "Great Prophecy" for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world—but no pressure.**

"No pressure at all," Dylan agreed sarcastically.

**"What if **_**this **_**is the decision?" I said. "Staying here to light, or leaving? What if I leave and you . . ."**

**I couldn't say **_**die. **_**Gods weren't supposed to die, but I'd seen it happen. Even if they didn't die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been.**

**"Percy, you must go," Poseidon insisted. "I don't know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends at camp. Kronos knew your plans. You have a spy. We will hold here. We have no choice."**

**Tyson gripped my hand desperately. "I will miss you, brother!"**

**Watching us, our father seemed to age another ten years.**

"Aw, he cares!" Natalie said with a smile

Poseidon smiled. "Of course I care. Most of us care about our children"

The Olympians nodded. "Itsthe ancient laws which restrict us from doing so"

**Tyson, you have work to do as well, my son. They need you in the armory."**

**Tyson pouted some more.**

**"I will go," he sniffled. He hugged me so hard he almost cracked my ribs. "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!"**

"Yeah Percy," Dylan pretend agreed. "You've got to let them kill you alive!"

**I tried to nod confidently, but it was too much for the big guy. He sobbed and swam away toward the armory, where his cousins were fixing spears and swords.**

**"You should let him fight," I told my father. "He hates being stuck in the armory. Can't you tell?"**

**Poseidon shook his head. "It is bad enough I must send you into danger. Tyson is too young. I must protect him."**

**"You should trust him," I said. "Not try to protect him."**

"You really shouldn't be talking to your dad like that," Danny scolded.

"Daniel"

"Yes Lady Demeter?"

"Shut up."

"Shutting up."

**Poseidon's eyes flared. I thought I'd gone too far, but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged. On the tiles, the mermaid guy in the crawfish chariot was coming closer to the palace.**

**"Oceanus approaches," my father said. "I must meet him in battle."**

**I'd never been scared for a god before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win.**

"Have some faith," Lucy chided gently.

**"I will hold," Poseidon promised. "I will not give up my domain. Just tell me, Percy, do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer?"**

**I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace. It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, but since last year I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord. My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday.**

"But you're a god!" Danny exclaimed. "You could give him anything, and you gave him a sand dollar?"

Poseidon smiled mischievously "I have my reasons"

**He'd told me I would know when to "spend it," but so far I hadn't figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn't fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.**

"Only you Percy, only you," Claira said.

**"The time is coming," he promised. "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and we will have a proper celebration."**

Hazel shook her head. "That's not very encouraging. Percy has no luck."

**He smiled, and for a moment I saw the old light in his eyes.**

**Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which should've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.**

**"I must assume my true godly form," Poseidon said. "Go—and good luck, my son."**

**I wanted to encourage him, to hug him or something, but knew better than to stick around. When a god assumes his true form, the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate.**

"Well that's just great," Samantha said sarcastically.

**"Good-bye, Father," I managed.**

**Then I turned away. I willed the ocean currents to aid me. Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've caused any normal human to pop like a balloon.**

"Your powers are so cool," Dylan whined.

Poseidon smiled smugly "My powers are better" Zeus scoffed.

"In your dreams" Hades muttered.

**When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the Titan, and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies.**

Sally closed the book. "And that's the end of the chapter. II'll go and make cookies with Calypso for the children" handing the book to Reyna

Reyna opened and read "**Chapter Three, I Get A Sneak Peak At My Death.**"


	5. Chapter 5

A bright light appeared and slowly dimmed leaving four figure. One was obviously a Hunter of Artemis, lieutenant to be exact, Artemis noted. She wasn't Zoe Nightshade that was certain as a knot formed in her stomach. She was a daughter of Zeus which she was certain about due to her electric blue eyes and her black hair was in spikes.

The other three figures were most certainly a mortal familya except the little girl in the man's arms. She was blond with grey eyes, her aura was that of a demigod. Athena no doubt. The two mortals however, looked quite mortified at the appearance of all those who are standing there.

"Who are you?" Zeus asked, his voice full of authority.

"Real great dad, you don't even recognise your own daughter. Wonderful" the huntress said sarcastically. Hera glared at her husband and was about to say something when Jason quickly explained all what has happened. "So, I'll be here listening to Kelp Heads thoughts. Great Blackmail" she grinned. "Thalia daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis"

"Thalia?" Miss Grace said

"Mom?" a confused looking Thalia stared at the woman in front of her.

"Hmph, looks like you are alive and well. Quite surprising" Suzan Grace said, her arms crossed.

"No thanks to you" Thalia replied in an equal tone

"What about you, mortals? Who might you be?" Athena asked, not wanting to hear any more arguments

"My Lady, I-I am Fredrick Chase. This is my wife, Helen" he gestured to the woman standing next to her. "This is Annabeth, my daughter"

"Is the child my daughter. No, she most certainly is my daughter." Athena said as she walked over to Annabeth who stared at Athena and smiled. She easily slipped into her mother's arms. "Mama?"

"Yes child?" Athena asked.

"I'm scared of spiders. They come and bite me. Helen says I'm lying. But I'm not lying, they do come and bite me" Annabeth said.

"Yes, they do. Their mother does not like me, that's why they come after you but remember child. You are safe, I am protecting you" Athena whispered and sat on her throne with Annabeth on her lap.

The two mortals awkwardly sat down with the students and Thalia gestured for Reyna to begin reading

**"I get a sneak peek at my death," **Reyna read," That doesn't sound good."

"No it doesn't." Poseidon said.

He was worried for his son.

**If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news.**

**Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean.**

"You don't hear that every day. "Noah said

**Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, and it's enchanted so most people can't even see it. People don't just appear on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza delivery guys. (It's happened-but that's another story.)**

"What happened?" Apollo asked.

"Now is not the time Apollo" Hera scolded.

"Oh come on, Hera! Don't be such a part pooper" Apollo whinnied,

"No means no, end of discussion"

**Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin. When he spotted me, he got so excited he fell out of his tree.**

"Smooth." Nico said.

Everyone laughed.

**Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet me.**

**Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor. He's a pretty nice guy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any ****circumstances, give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.**

"I learned that the hard way." Leo said.

Everyone laughed.

**He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way I can tell them apart.**

"They do look like twins."Piper said.

"That's because they are twins, Beauty Queen" Leo said grinning

"Shut up, Leo!" a blushing Piper said

**They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.**

**"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?" Then he saw my expression, and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out . . ."**

"Poor silena." Aphrodite said, almost crying.

The demigods thought that same thing but for a whole different reason.

**Together we climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred yards away, people were already streaming toward us, smiling and excited. Percy's back, they were probably thinking. He's saved the day! ****Maybe he brought souvenirs!**

**I stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them. No sense rushing down there to tell them what a loser I was.**

"Your not a loser. There was nothing you could do." Poseidon said grabbing Percy and pulling him up on his lap who looked up at his father with so fused innocent eyes.

"Yeah, of course you're a loser. What would anyone expect?!" Jared snarled whom got electrocuted by the Daughter of Zeus

**I gazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp HalfBlood looked the first time I ever saw it. That seemed like a bajillion years ago.**

"Not a word." Athena said but nobody heard her.

**From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley. On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches, magically protecting the camp from its enemies. The guard dragon Peleus was so big now I could see him from here-curled around the tree trunk, lending up smoke signals as he snored.**

**To my right spread the woods. To my left, the canoe lake glittered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side. Twelve cabins-one for each Olympian god-made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. Farther south were the strawberry fields, the armory, and the four-story Big House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weathervane.**

**In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You could see it in the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill. There weren't as many at camp as four summers ago. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others-we tried not to talk about them-had gone over to the enemy.**

"Who would want to join them?" Noah asked.

"Kronos is quite manipulative and tempting punk, you should not question things you don't understand" Clarisse said

**The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.**

**Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said MY ****OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back.**

"I love that shirt." Leo said ramdomly

**"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where . . ." Annabeth ran in right behind him, and I'll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her.**

"Eep!" Aphrodite squeaked with a gossiping Samantha and Chelsea

**It's not that she tried to look good.**

Athena glared at Percy "Stay away from my daughter, sea spawn"

Cue snickers.

"Some one has got a crush!" Mathew said

**We'd been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing-usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor. Her eyes were stormy gray. Most of the time we couldn't get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other. Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head.**

"Does this make _you_ feel fuzzy in the head?" Piper asked,

She leaned in and kissed Jason on the lips.

When she pulled away all Jason said was," Uhh..."

"That answers my question. "Piper said leaning into Jason while most snickered at the look on Jason face. "However, I think Percy is affecting your brain"

Jason blushed and Suzan Grace couldn't help but smile at her son.

**Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when I thought maybe**

"Is it because you kissed under a mountain?" Thalia asked.

Percy just looked at Thalia having no idea what was talking about

**. . . well, that we might get past the strangle-eachother phase.**

**"What happened?" She grabbed my arm. "Is Luke-"**

"He just came back on a mission and you ask about Luke?" Apollo asked.

Thalia looked down, missing the son of Hermes whom had stolen her heart.

**"The ship blew up," I said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where-"**

**Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her.**

**"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.**

"He's not." Leo said sadly.

**I glanced at Chiron helplessly.**

**The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House-"**

**"No," she muttered. "No. No."**

Everyone looked down.

Hephaestus and Aphrodite had tears in their eyes.

**She started to cry, and the rest of us stood around, too stunned to speak. We'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.**

**Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward.**

Everyone turned to Clarisse.

**She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever-a daughter of the war god and a daughter of the love goddess-but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend,**

Clarisse clenched her fists as the mortals slowly backed away from the angry Demigoddess.

**Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.**

**Clarisse was dressed in her bloodred combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandana. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.**

**"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."**

"That was nice of you." Aphrodite said," I won't mess with your love life."

"Um...thanks." Clarisse said.

**Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see me now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.**

**Only Annabeth and Chiron stayed behind.**

**Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."**

"Aww. "Aphrodite said she was still sad about what happened to her daughter but she couldn't resist.

The mortals except the jerk faces smiled. Even Athena smiled.

**"Thanks," I said. "Me too."**

**Chiron put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"**

**I didn't want to go through it again, but I told them the story, including my dream about the Titans. I left out the detail about Nico. Nico had made me promise not to tell anybody about his plan until I made up my mind, and the plan was so scary I didn't mind keeping it a secret.**

"Scary?" Poseidon squeaked," Why?"

"You'll see." Thalia said

That didn't help Poseidon at all.

Maria di Angelo stared at her son with a slight frown who slumped into his mothers's legs

**Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."**

**"Poseidon mentioned another threat," I said. "Something even bigger than the Princess Andromeda. I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."**

**Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something I didn't. I hated when they did that.**

"I think we all do" Piper said

**"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.**

**"One more thing." I took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy." Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, we will show Percy the truth-all of it. Let's go to the attic."**

"What's so scary about an attic?" James asked but was ignored.

"What is my Oracle doing in an attic?!" Apollo demanded

**I'd been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than I wanted to.**

**A ladder ledup from the top of the staircase. I wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try.**

"Well yeah." Thalia said.

"Why can't he climb?" James asked.

"Weren't you listening? He is a centaur! How is he suppose to climb a ladder?" Clarisse snarled

**"You know where it is," he told Annabeth. "Bring it down, please." Annabeth nodded. "Come on, Percy."**

**The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual. Old hero trophies were slacked everywheredented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: STOLEN FROM ****CHRYSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, ****1988.**

"Oh Gus." Hermes said smiling.

**I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter M. I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it. The tag was dated last summer. It read: Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth.**

Everyone cheered.

**"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" I asked. Annabeth gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?" We locked eyes. I thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St. Helens, when Annabeth thought I was going to die and she kissed me.**

"Epp!" Aphrodite squealed.

**She cleared her throat and looked away. "Prophecy."**

**"Right." I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy." We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle-a shriveled female mummy m a tie-dyed dress. Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl.**

"What?! What happened to my Oracle? Why is she a mummy? She is suppose to be a living gorgeous girl?!" Apollo shouted.

Everyone except the seven, Nico, Thalia and Clarisse looked confused

**If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come up here to get a quest. This summer, that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions. We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.**

**Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist-the spirit of the Oracle-that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy, she moved. Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message. I wasn't sure what she'd do for the "Great Prophecy." I half expected her to start tap dancing or something.**

Everyone cracked up.

**But she just sat there like she was dead-which she was.**

**"I never understood this," I whispered.**

**"What?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Why it's a mummy."**

"That's what I'd like to know!" Apollo demanded

**"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful maiden. The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me she was like that fifty years ago." Annabeth pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."**

**"What happened?"**

"Yeah! What happened!" Apollo shouted.

"Mommy... The mean man is scary" baby Nico said.

Maria smiled and kissed him "It's alright, he is just worried that is all."

Artemis smacked Apollo upside on the head. "Stop it, Apollo. You're scaring the children"

**Annabeth started to say something, then apparently changed her mind. "Let's just do our job and get out of here." I looked nervously at the Oracle's withered face. "So what now?" Annabeth approached the mummy and held out her palms. "O ****Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy." I braced myself, but the mummy didn't move. Instead, Annabeth approached and unclasped one of its necklaces. I'd never paid too much attention to its jewelry before. I figured it was just hippie love beads and stuff. But when Annabeth turned toward me, she was holding a leather pouch-like a Native American medicine pouch on a cord braided with feathers. She opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky.**

"What?" Jason said. Reyna looked confused and re-read the line.

**"No way," I said. "You mean all these years, I've been asking about this stupid prophecy, and it's been right there around her neck?"**

"I guess you would never look there would you?" Noah asked.

"Yeah! Who would want to even look at a leathery dead mummy?! Totally not cool!" Samantha exclaimed.

**"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Percy, I read this when I was ten years old, and I still have nightmares about it."**

"Great. "Leo said sarcastically.

**"Great," I said. "Can I read it now?"**

**"Downstairs at the war council," Annabeth said. "Not in front of ****. . . you know."**

**I looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and I decided not to argue. We headed downstairs to join the others. I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I ever visited the attic.**

"Ominous." Hermes said.

"Why?" Poseidon said looking on the verge of panic.

"You'll see."

"I said it before, I am really starting to hate those two words." Poseidon said.

"No, you haven't" James said but shut up and at the look on the immortal's face

**The senior counselors had gathered around the Ping-Pong table. Don't ask me why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils. When Annabeth, Chiron, and I came in, though, it looked more like a shouting match.**

**Clarisse was still in full battle gear. Her electric spear was strapped to her back. (Actually, her second electric spear, since I'd broken the first one. She called the spear "Maimer." Behind her back, everybody else called it "Lamer.")**

Clarisse glared at Percy who had crawled out of his dad's arms and was playing with the other little kids.

**She had her boar-shaped helmet under one arm and a knife at her belt.**

**She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, the new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer.**

Apollo looked down.

There was a moment a silence for the son of Apollo.

**Michael stood four feet six, with another two feet of attitude. He reminded me of a ferret, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features-either because he scowled so much or because he spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow.**

"Hey!" Apollo yelled

**"It's our loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!" Around the table, people were trying not to laugh-the Stoll brothers, Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter.**

"It was kinda funny." Nico said.

"I always thought it was funny how Demeter had a daughter with the last name Gardner." Leo said randomly

Piper giggled "Oh shut it, Repair boy"

**Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile.**

Everyone looked sad.

**Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the PingPong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her. It seemed unfair that she had to be here. I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf.**

Now Clarisse looked ashamed.

**"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?" Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."**

**"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.**

"Ohhh." Hermes said trying to release the tension.

**"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."**

**"What are you talking about?" I demanded.**

**Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."**

**"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.**

"Shut it, Stoll" Clarisse muttered.

**"What issue?" I asked.**

**Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"**

**Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters-"**

**"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and light when you need us, and not complain!"**

**"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.**

"Connor." Piper said, shaking her head

**Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D-"**

**"As you know," Chiron interrupted, his tone slightly angry now, ****"our director, Dionysus, is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."**

**"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are any of you going to side with me?"**

**Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.**

"I'll admit this... I shouldn't have done what happened next." Clarisse said.

Everyone looked at her in shock.

She didn't say anything else.

**"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost . . . Anyway, I apologize. To you. Nobody else."**

**Silena didn't seem to register her words.**

"Poor silena." Aphrodite said sadly.

**Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying." The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.**

Clarisse looked down.

She felt guilty. If she just let it go... nothing would have happened to Silena.

**Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."**

**"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"**

**"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?" Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced.**

"Probably wasn't." James said

**I wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about, but I looked at Annabeth and she mouthed the words I'll tell you later.**

**"Now," Chiron continued, "if you please, counselors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy-the Great Prophecy."**

**Annabeth handed me the parchment. It felt dry and old, and my fingers fumbled with the string. I uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read:**

"That would be funny if you did rip it." Leo said trying to release the tension.

It didn't work very well.

**"A half-blood of the eldest dogs . . ."**

"What? " Jason said.

"dyslexia." Reyna said.

The mortals snickered. "It's not funny! It's gives you a crazy headache." Thalia growled and the mortals shut up

**"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."**

**"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes I really hate it. The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets. "A half~blood of the eldest gods . . . shall reach sixteen against all odds . . ."**

**I hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started my fingers as if the paper was freezing.**

Poseidon closed his eyes and tried to count till 10 to prevent a tsunami from hitting Ogygia.

**"And see the world in endless sleep, ****The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."**

**Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket. A cursed blade?**

Poseidon kept his eyes closed.

**Chiron once told me Riptide had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible my own sword could get me killed? And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?**

**"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest." My mouth felt like it was full of sand, but I spoke the last two lines.**

**"A single choice shall. . . shall end his days. Olympus to per- pursue-"**

**"Preserve," Annabeth said gently. "It means to save. "**

**"I know what it means," I grumbled. "Olympus to preserve or raze."**

Everyone was dead silent.

"Why haven't we heard of this prophecy?" Hades asked,breaking the silence.

"The prophecy has not been issued in our time, I believe" Hera said and Apollo nodded. "Reyna, continue reading"

After a while Reyna started reading again.

**The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"**

**"Not raise, "Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means destroy. "**

**"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."**

**"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks." Everybody was looking at me-with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear.**

"All of above." Thalia said.

**Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room. "You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy. You've had enough on your shoulders-"**

**"Without realizing I was going to die in the end anyway?" I said. "Yeah, I get it."**

Everyone winced.

**Chiron gazed at me sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try to reassure me.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."**

**"Sure," I said. "A single choice shall end his days. That has tons of meanings, right?"**

"Yeah it did." James said sarcastically. "I'm curious on how he is even alive!"

**"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered. "The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. Maybe we could find this cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"**

**I hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade was Riptide or Kronos's scythe. Either way, I doubted we could stop the prophecy. A blade was supposed to reap my soul. As a general rule, I preferred not to have my soul reaped.**

"Nobody would." Jason said.

"Oh really Sparky? I would love to have my soul reaped!" Leo said sarcastically.

**"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time-"**

**"No." I folded up the prophecy and shoved it into my pocket. I felt defiant and angry, though I wasn't sure who I was angry with. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?" Annabeth's hands were shaking a little. She wouldn't meet my eyes.**

Poseidon looked plenty worried.

**"Let's move on," I said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."**

"I almost forgot about that." Leo said.

**Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"**

**I told them what had happened on the Princess Andromeda-how Kronos had known we were coming, how he'd shown me the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp. Silena started to cry again, and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.**

"Poor Silena." Was heard from around the room.

Piper still kept on thinking about Silena being the spy.

**"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "we've suspected there might a spy for years, right? Somebody kept passing information to Luke-like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. It must be somebody who knew him well." Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth. She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly.**

Athena glared at Hermes, "It was not my daughter."

"Why are you glaring at me? How do you even know that's not your daughter?" Hermes asked.

"Those thoughts can only be from one of your of springs Hermes" Athena said sternly with Reyna quickly continuing to read it.

**"Um, I mean, it could be anybody."**

**"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies.**

Demeter glared at Hermes.

**"Like one of Luke's siblings."**

**Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.**

**"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and . . . and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.**

Everyone looked down.

**Hot chocolate trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed.**

As did some in the room.

**"She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help. We need to keep our eyes open for a silver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too." Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the Princess Andromeda won't stop Kronos forever."**

**"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."**

**I scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?" He and Annabeth looked at each other like, It's time. Did I mention I hate it when they do that?**

"Yep, you did." Apollo said.

Artemis rolled her eyes.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your . . . mortal friends." Annabeth blushed. It dawned on me that she knew I'd been hanging out with Rachel, and I felt guilty. Then I felt angry that I felt guilty. I was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like . . .**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**"Tell me what's happened," I said.**

**Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate where we usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights. Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."**

**The mist shimmered. I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano-Mount St. Helens. As I watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out. A newscaster's voice was saying " - even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done."**

**I knew all about last year's eruption. I'd caused it.**

"Seriously Percy? Blow up a mountain?!" Thalia exclaimed in exasperation

"Well, at least it ain't a national monument" Nico added.

The mortals exchanged looks of shock.

**But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole. I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States. The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing.**

**"It's him," I said. "Typhon."**

**I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!**

Everyone laughed.

"You know how to release the tension." Jason said.

Baby Percy smiled.

**But no such luck. He simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from two days ago. Here is what is happening today."**

**Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path-ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.**

**"Monumental floods," an announcer was saying. "Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction." The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant-just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swat them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness.**

"Me." Apollo said.

**Then some kind of huge bird-a monstrous owl-dived in to attack the giant.**

"Me." Athena said.

**"Are those . . . the gods?" I said.**

**"Yes, Percy," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhon is marching forward-toward New York. Toward Olympus."**

**I let that sink in. "How long until he gets here?"**

**"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there . . . except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."**

**"But then who's guarding Olympus?"**

"Nobody." The demigods chorused.

**Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus."**

**I thought about Kronos's words on the ship: I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus. Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhon? It was sure terrifying enough. But Kronos was always fooling us, misdirecting our attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in my dream, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, as if Typhon were only the first.**

**"It's a trick," I said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."**

Athena nodded in agreement.

**Chiron looked at me gravely. "Something worse than Typhon? I hope not."**

**"We have to defend Olympus," I insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."**

**"He did," Travis Stoll reminded me. "But you sunk his ship." Everyone was looking at me. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least I'd given them a little bit of hope. I glanced at Annabeth. I could tell we were thinking the same thing: What if the Princess Andromeda was a ploy? What if Kronos let us blow up that ship so we'd lower our guard?**

**But I wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission.**

Everyone looked down again.

**"Maybe you're right," I said, though I didn't believe it. I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were m the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp HalfBlood were on our own with a spy in our midst. Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen-which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.**

"When you put it that way... "Leo trailed off.

"Yeah. " James said.

**"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night." He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared.**

**"That's an understatement," I muttered.**

**And the war council adjourned.**

"Done." Reyna said putting the book down.

"Snack time everyone!" Sally and Calypso's voice echoed and they turned to see the two women carrying two huge trays of cookies, milk and juice followed by air spirits and placed the trays of cookies on tables summoned by Hera.

The little munchkins wobbled over to the table and began stuffing their faces with cookies and drinking milk as it dripped down their chins. The women laughed at the little children's antics.


End file.
